The invention relates to a closing device for a movably mounted furniture part which, proceeding from a closed position in which a contact face of the movable furniture part abuts against a body part, is openable in an opening direction into an open position, and is closable in a closing direction, which is opposite to the opening direction, from the open position into the closed position, having a carrier which is connectable to the movable furniture part or to the body part and having a closing lever which is acted upon by a closing spring and comprises a guide track for the carrier and is pivotable by the carrier when the movable furniture part is opened between a hold-closed position, which the closing lever assumes in the closed position of the movable furniture part and in which the carrier is situated in a closed position in the guide track, and a standby position, in which the carrier uncouples from the closing lever, about a pivot axis which is stationary in relation to the body part when the carrier is connected to the movable furniture part, or in relation to the movable furniture part when the carrier is connected to the body part, wherein when the movable furniture part is closed, a closing force is exertable by the closing lever onto the carrier from a start-of-operation position assumed by the carrier in the guide track.
Different embodiments of closing devices (also called self-closing devices or pull-in mechanisms) for pull-out furniture parts, for example drawers or cupboard pull-outs, are known, which, when the pull-out furniture part is pushed in, automatically retract said pull-out furniture part over a last portion of the insert track and thus secure the completely retracted state of the pull-out furniture part. For example, AT 401334 B describes a pull-in mechanism where there is a tilt-slide device which can be displaced against the force of a spring. The tilt-slide device includes a slide which can be displaced in the pull-out direction of the drawer against the force of the spring and a tilt part which is arranged so as to be tiltable about a tilt axis. In the case of the pull-in device known from AT 393948 B there is also a tilt-slide device which can be displaced along a guide track against the force of a spring. The guide track has a straight portion and a curved portion which causes the tilt-slide device to pivot about an imaginary tilt axis into its tilted end position.
Nowadays closing devices are usually provided with slide-in dampers in order to damp the retraction movement of the pull-out furniture part in the last portion of the retraction path. Such a damped closing device where the tilt-slide device interacts with a slide-in damper is known, for example, from EP 1 532 892 A1. The spring-loaded tilt-slide device, in this case, acts with a linear damper in the form of a piston-cylinder unit which operates in particularly in a pneumatic manner. Self-closing devices which are damped by means of rotary dampers are also known.
EP 2 129 260 A1 makes known a damped closing device where a support unit which mounts the tilt-slide device is attached to a body rail of the pull-out guide of the pull-out furniture part and the carrier is incorporated into a pull-out rail of the pull-out guide which is attached to the pull-out furniture part.
In the case of pivotably mounted furniture parts, for example, cupboard doors, spring elements, which are incorporated in the hinges, automatically close the pivotable furniture part over a last portion of its closing movement and thus secure the completely closed state of the furniture part, are known. Dampers are used here too in the majority of cases to damp the closing movement.
Dampers which are realized in the form of piston-cylinder units to damp the closing of movably mounted furniture parts proceed, for example, from DE 20 2005 020 820 U1 and DE 10 213 726 A1. Rotary dampers where a highly viscous damping medium is arranged in a gap between a fixed damper part and a rotatably mounted damper part are also known. The braking force is produced from said damping medium which is stressed with shear. Dampers of this type proceed, for example, from DE 10 210 917 C1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,282 A, JP 59-222631 A, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,432 A. It is known to realize dampers for damping the closing of movably mounted furniture parts in such a manner that the damping force exerted by the damper occurs substantially only in the closing direction or is substantially greater in the closing direction than in the opening direction (such that the damper comprises a type of “free running”). DE 10 313 659 B3, DE 10 214 596 A1, DE 19 717 937 A1, AT 503 877 B1 and EP 1 260 159 A2 describe piston-cylinder units where an air pressure difference realized between the two piston ends acts on an elastically deformable piston part such that the exerted friction force depends on the air pressure difference and consequently on the speed of the component to be damped.
A damped closing device with a tilt-slide device which is mounted so as to be pivotable about a tilt axis on a slide which is mounted so as to be displaceable in a straight line proceeds from US 2011/0101839 A1. The slide is acted upon by a closing spring which cooperates with a toothed gear segment which meshes with a gear-rack-like toothing of the slide.
EP 1 384 420 B1 describes a closing lever which is realized in a bent manner, is rotatably mounted about a stationary horizontal pivot axis and is acted upon by a closing spring which is incorporated into a piston-cylinder unit which forms a damper. A carrier, which interacts with the closing lever and comprises a sliding track, is arranged on the rear side of the pull-out furniture part, for example a pantry unit pull-out. When the pull-out furniture part is pulled out, proceeding from a hold-closed position the closing lever is pivoted by the carrier about the pivot axis into a standby position in which the carrier uncouples from the closing lever. When the closing lever is pivoted from the hold-closed position into the standby position, a dead point of the closing spring is crossed such that the closing lever is held by the closing spring in the standby position. When the pull-out furniture part is pushed in, a projection of the closing lever moves into the sliding track of the carrier, the closing lever coupling with the carrier and being pivoted over the dead point of the closing spring. As a result, the closing lever pulls the pull-out furniture part into its completely retracted position. The closing spring is tensioned the strongest in the dead point position of the closing lever in which the closing spring is situated at its dead point. When the pull-out furniture part is pulled out, the closing force exerted onto the pull-out furniture part by the closing lever and acting in the closing direction increases, proceeding from the closed position of the pull-out furniture part, until the closing lever reaches its dead point position.
A closing device of the type mentioned in the introduction proceeds from GB 1,117,071. A spring-loaded closing lever which is mounted so as to be pivotable about an axis which is stationary in relation to the furniture body, and is pivoted by a carrier, which is mounted on the pull-out furniture part, between a hold-closed position, which the closing lever assumes in the closed state of the pull-out furniture part, and a standby position. The spring, in this connection, is moved over a dead point. Here too, the force to be overcome when the pull-out furniture part is pulled out until the dead point of the spring is reached is relatively high compared to the closing force exerted onto the pull-out furniture part in the closing position.